Doesn’t Ecclesiastes 3:19 teach that there is no difference between men and animals?<\/p>\n\t
“Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 3:16-20).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Solomon’s point is that men, left on their own, have a strong tendency to behave as poorly as animals. Instead of aiming for a higher moral standard, they place their personal, bodily desires above what their head knows to be righteous. This is not a praise of animal behavior, but a condemnation of man’s behavior because God expects more out of men than He does animals.<\/p>\n
Man shares many similar traits with animals. We are alive, that is we both have souls in the biblical terminology, but man has something that animals don’t have. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them<\/em>” (Genesis 1:27). Mankind was made to share a characteristic of God. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth<\/em>” (John 4:24). God is not a physical being but a spiritual one. Like God, we were created with spirit. Animals are above plants because they have soul and plants do not. Man is above animals because he has a spirit along with his body and soul, which animals do not. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 5:23).<\/p>\n
To remind men that while we share a characteristic of God we still are not God, we experience death just as the animals. For all our “advantage” in having a spirit, we all die. Thus God’s point remains that if man is on his own, he decays into acting like an animal and he is unable to avoid death. But the key is that this happens when we are on our own. “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?<\/em>” (Psalm 8:4). The aim of the argument Solomon is presenting is that we don’t have to be on our own. We can rise above an animalistic nature. We must die, but we don’t have to remain dead. Being on our own is futility. We need our God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Doesn’t Ecclesiastes 3:19 teach that there is no difference between men and animals? Answer: “Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[242,109,791],"class_list":["post-6817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-animal-rights","tag-death","tag-ecclesiastes"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":83003,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-animals-have-spirits\/","url_meta":{"origin":6817,"position":0},"title":"Don’t animals have spirits?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading the article, \"Doesn't Ecclesiastes 3:19 teach that there is no difference between men and animals?\" You said animals have no spirit. The very next passage says that they do have spirits. \"Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17422,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-animals-have-a-soul-or-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":6817,"position":1},"title":"Do animals have a soul or spirit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question regarding animals and souls.\u00a0 Does the Bible state definitively whether animals have a soul or a spirit?\u00a0 I was raised in the church of Christ and had always been told that animals (companion dogs specifically) do not have a soul.\u00a0 However, no one has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1984,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-spirit-of-man-immortal\/","url_meta":{"origin":6817,"position":2},"title":"Is the spirit of man immortal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where do I go when I die? Does my body go to the grave and my spirit or soul go immediately to heaven? What is\u00a0Ecclesiastes 3:18-21\u00a0talking about? Are souls immortal? Answer: A portion of your questions was previously answered in \"What happens to you when you die?\" Rather than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18043,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-my-pet-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":6817,"position":3},"title":"Why did my pet die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I'm an 18-year-old girl who is beginning to have doubts about my faith.\u00a0The reason is that I recently had to put down my pet rat and I am taking it pretty rough. It is so rough that I'm doubting myself and my religion (Catholic). My questions are these:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21343,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-only-reason-god-allowed-noah-to-eat-meat-was-because-it-was-convenient\/","url_meta":{"origin":6817,"position":4},"title":"Isn’t the only reason God allowed Noah to eat meat was because it was convenient?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across your article when\u00a0doing research in the bible and trying to find an answer in why is the world so evil. Interestingly man is of course evil as it is evil to animals. No other animal on the planet will use another in the same way. So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41693,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-ecclesiastes-contain-statements-that-dont-make-sense-to-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":6817,"position":5},"title":"Does Ecclesiastes contain statements that don’t make sense to Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In your article, \"Do people know what is happening on earth after their death?\", you plainly state the dead don't know what happens on Earth. After looking at Coffman's Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 9 he points out interesting points in the chapter. 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